On the last day of my trip to Alberta, we went on a tour of Glacier National Park, driving through the Going-to-the-Sun Road and admiring all of the beautiful scenery. We even went whitewater rafting down a river. All along the road we saw these old timey red buses filled with tourists. They’re called Red Jammers because they’re red, and they used to have a double clutch which made a jamming noise as the drivers would shift on the steep roads. Originally, the buses were just called Reds and the drivers were called Jammers but not anymore. At the end of the road we stopped at a gift shop and I saw bottles of Red Jammer Root Beer, the Official Root Beer of Glacier National Park. I got three bottles and then parted company with my friends, and headed out into the sunset towards Washington again. I didn’t have sun glasses so I was pretty much squinting for 5 hours, I should have thought that drive through better.

The Body is weak and indistinct, not very sweet and has a hint of anise flavor in it. It is kind of gross if you ask me. The Bite is alright. The Head is bad. The Aftertaste is kind of gross with a mild anise flavor.

I don’t like this one bit. All in all it tastes like a Flathead Lake Monster Root Beer that some one stuck a licorice stick in over night, which is actually an improvement over normal FLM. I wonder if that is because they are both made by the same brewery. Of all of the root beers I’ve tried, this may be the only one that’s a simple relabel, but I’m not sure. There were differences and I did taste three bottles of each. The UPCs are different so I’m going to err on the side of this is distinct, though not much. See how it rates against other root beers.

About the time I was emailed about the Brewski another Canadian, dare I say my very favorite Canadian, informed me that he had found this and wanted to know if I needed to try it. I say my favorite Canadian because he was my longest and last mission companion in Madagascar so many years ago. Our root beer relationship went back to then, with me sending him some A&W as soon as I got back home (I got home first) to help end the root beer dearth that country suffers from. I even visited him in Alberta and found the FLM and Red Jammer along the way. Anyhow, I traded him some Steelhead and Hank’s for this. It comes in the standard Canadian 341 ml bottle which still makes no sense at all. The label makes me think of some nature park warning sign which is appropriate for the region. The coolest part about it is the whole “Racinette” because, Canada.

The Body is rich and sort of creamy with a rather generic root beer flavor. There’s nothing that really jumps out at you. The Bite has got a lot of carbonation fizz but not really much in the spice department. The Head is short and doesn’t last very long. The Aftertaste is a light caramel licorice with a bit of vanilla that doesn’t last long enough.

This is pretty meh but not unpleasant in any way. It’s just one of those generic, decent root beers that might as well have a white label with the words “Root Beer” in black text. I’d drink it again if I needed a brew to go with dinner, but only if it just happened to be laying around. See how it rates against other root beers.

Shortly after my mission I took a road trip to southern Alberta to visit one of my favorite mission companions for a week. I left home at 3 am on a summer morning and after 10 minutes of driving I noticed the aurora borealis in the sky above me. Wow, in the summer in Washington State? I pulled over and looked at them for awhile. I swear they make noise. Then off again. Near Spokane I saw thunder storms in the distance with the clouds lit up by the lightning. The sky was certainly putting on a show for me. I was sure that it was a good omen. Along the way I also made a point to keep my eyes open for new root beers to try. While I was gassing up in Kalispell Montana I found this root beer in the mini mart. I knew that good things were coming, and finding a new root beer is always a good thing. I bought three bottles and continued on my journey. I had loads of fun and when I got back home a week later I got down to business of reviewing this brew.

The Body is weak, hollow and fruity which I attribute to the citric acid. The Bite is medium. The Head lives up to its name. The Aftertaste is fruity as well.

Yuk. I am not a fan. It says on the bottle that the root beer is fresh. If this is true I wonder why they needed two preservatives (Citric Acid and Sodium Benzoate). It also says “Fight Corporate Root beer.” My suggestion to them is that if this is their objective a good battle plan would be to make a better root beer. Finally, the bottle says “Root beer we make from the bottom of the lake.” I must say that the taste of the brew validates this claim. See how it rates against other root beers.

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About the Gourmet Root Beer Blog

This is the blog of Eric's Gourmet Root Beer site, one of the oldest root beer reviewing sites on the web and the only site to focus entirely on gourmet root beer. Eric has been reviewing gourmet root beers since 1998 but only recently added a blog. This blog will be updated with a new root beer review every Wednesday. Other root beer and website related posts will appear from time to time. Currently the majority of the root beer reviews do not have blog posts about them. They can be found under the Reviews and Ratings pages.